Avengers Disassembled Part 3

[informationgeek]

The next issue of the series, issue #502 coming later this month, promises the death of one core Avenger- Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Yellowjacket or Wasp, a promise that has upset many fans. But is Bendis, with his new “language” for the Avengers, simply trying to redefine the core- and core members- of the Avengers? “No, they’re two different things,” he answers. “The story that’s being told now is about the Avengers as they exist now- the mistakes they’ve made and problems that they’ve had when they’re playing a game so dramatic, that’s so high stakes and those stakes will cost them everything. This is a very dangerous game, which is a given for all superhero comics, and we’re showing how that backfires. I think a lot of people realize that what’s happening is happening, no dream or fake out story, and it’s a little upsetting. This isn’t some hollow event. Things are happening. But we’re not doing it to shock, though there are certainly shocking parts to it. Something like this doesn’t often happen on this level.” - Article interview with Brian Michael Bendis

Story By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: David Finch



Then onto Avengers #502...




Then suddenly.... KREE INVASION!!!!!













So little substance to this issue. Just a fight scene, Hawkeye goes ka-boom, and s**t else.

Comments

[reveen]

IT'S A BACKPACK STUPID YOU CAN JUST TAKE IT O- *BOOM* Oh.

Even when I was fifteen that was the dumbest shit I've ever seen in my entire life.

[tcampbell1000]

Devil's advocate: given some of the high-impact stuff we've seen Hawkeye do with his arrows, it's possible that taking it off and throwing it away wouldn't get him out of the blast radius in time--

--But no, I'm not really buying it either. One of the biggest problems with superhero deaths is that we've seen them cheat death so many times, to see them suddenly die easily feels weirdly unrealistic, because merely reading a story with Captain America in it means believing that a man who takes enough steroids and has an unbreakable shield can charge into a hail of machine-gun and laser blaster fire on the regs and not even get grazed. Pointing out that THAT belief is the unrealistic one doesn't really help.

I know they're controversial, but one thing I appreciated about the "death" of Spider-Man in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #698-700 was that Peter fought hard and impressively and for a long time, even when his survival odds seemed near zero, so that when he did pass on, it felt convincing. I think it's the length that mattered most. Clint dies in two pages.

I can see the effort here to give him a blaze of glory, but it mostly comes across as pointing and laughing at perceived flaws in his superhero design. It's like taking The Incredibles' "no capes" gag and using it to kill Batman.

[scorntx]

As a counter-argument to Devil's advocate: There are at least three people there with beyond human endurance, strength and speed who could probably super-speed over there, grab the damn thing and toss it into the sky, let it blow up there.

[qalchemist]

TBF; he was just blasted in the back by multiple laser/energy bolts.

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that he's bleeding internally severely, and knows it.

[captainbellman]

It must have been a revelation for David Finch when he realised that human faces can be drawn without a permanent squint and a recurring swing between pouts and rictus grimaces.

[captainbellman]

Also, oh boy, "Where's Skrully?"

[stubbleupdate]

He's in the "In the future, what you need to do is..." panel

[theflames]

I... would flaming Hawkeye and one dude with a jetpack really be enough to take out a ship of this size?

And I forgot how much Chris Evan's prettied up the role of Captain America.

[lamashtar]

Nah, thats just the artist's fondness for squinting.

[sarahnewlin]

I see Black Widow. Shame she isn't really doing much.

[scorntx]

Going by his usage of her in Mighty Avengers, Bendis has no idea how to write Black Widow.
Given all she did then was either shot guns, glare at people or stand around.

[coldfury]

She still fared better than Quasar in this. He got to stand in the crowd and have the distinction of being the first one shot out of the sky by the kree, despite being one of the Avengers most well equipped to fight them.

[thehood]

She wasn't too bad in his Daredevil though.

[katefan]

It's almost as if there had been a dare behind the scenes, in that some editor finished reading Chuck Austen's run and said "Nobody could write a worse series of Avengers stories than that guy!"

Bendis overheard it and said, "Challenge: accepted."